Original concept sketch
The
client for this home wanted a modern, low maintenance design with a flat roof
system and stucco exterior. The new
home was to be located in an existing suburb of North Atlanta amongst other
contemporary style houses, so there was no conflict of style issues.
The site for this project was ideal for a drive under garage.
The front yard was level right up to the front yard setback line and then
dropped fourteen feet straight down. The
backyard was already graded level perfect
for a driveway turnaround. Therefore,
we set the garage and guest suite into the side of the hill, stacked the public
spaces above on the first floor, and put all of the bedrooms upstairs. The result
was a play on floating rectilinear solids anchored to the ground at the rear
with a cylindrical stair tower. The
use of real cement stucco gave us the design flexibility to accomplish this. The
plumbing and utility core was placed in the center of the house, with the
stairway attached to the back of the house.
This minimized the circulation space and gave us a rear entry basement
foyer. The original design of the stair tower was topped with a circular
skylight in order to add a greater feeling of spaciousness, creating a three
story light well above the rear entry.
Stacking the spaces in this way and leaving out all of the trim work that
comes with more traditional homes has the added advantage of very economical
construction cost. Windows
are white PVC casements, again for low maintenance.
Attic ventilation was achieved by using extra deep open web roof trusses.
The roof has a very slight pitch to it for drainage.
Here again, material and labor was saved as opposed to the framing and
lumber required for a traditional steep roof pitch.
The current owners, upon purchasing the house, began
installing modern light fixtures, furniture, and introducing bold new colors.
One of the most interesting features is the long vertical string of light
fixtures hanging in the light well of the rear foyer (see photo next page).
The private hidden garden in the front yard was also one of their additions. Due the nature of the site there was not much of an opportunity for privacy. A garden walkway begins to the left of the front entry and runs past a stacked stone waterfall with a pond. Continuing on through the garden to the left one reaches a completely private sitting area sunken in the ground and surrounded by a stonewall creating a wonderful retreat.
